Santa Barbara Oil Spill Raises Concerns Over Patchwork of Pipeline Oversight
U.S Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein described the response to the oil spill just north of Santa Barbara as "insufficient." They also want to know whether federal regulators could have required the Plains All-American Pipeline to install an automatic shut-off valve. The pipeline and others like it in California are monitored by a complex and sometimes confusing patchwork of agencies and inspectors.
In Surprising Twist, L.A. Labor Leaders Want Union Exemption to Minimum Wage Boost
Last week, the Los Angeles City Council voted to raise the minimum wage to $15. It was the nation's largest city to do so. But in a new wrinkle to this story, labor unions who supported the increase caught many people off-guard when they asked the City Council to study a proposal to exempt businesses with unionized workers from the new wage law.